The invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for the introduction of rod-shaped elements into a working machine in which a gap is required between the worked piece and the following piece, the working machine, for example, being a mill for cross-wedge rolling such elements. The invention is particularly adapted for use with machines wherein the end of a rod, which has been heated as by an induction heating device through which the rod passes, is rolled between rolls of the machine.
Known feeding devices for similar purposes are either located between the heating device and the working station, or in front of the heating device. A drawback of such known feeding device is that such device works with a rod which has already been heated to a working temperature, thereby subjecting the feeding device to arduous working conditions and wearing it unduly.
A drawback of the second known arrangement is that each introduced rod has to shift a part of a second, up to now unworked rod, the first rod being worked upon being elongated in the course of its rolling and shifting the second rod backwardly. This is disadvantageous for the proper rolling of the rod being worked upon, since the rotating motion of such rod is braked, and, in addition, the rods frequently deviate from the feeding axis with consequent damage to the heating device.